More than 57,000 sign up for Alabama SAF-T-Net developed by Huntsville-based Baron Services

Gov. Robert Bentley, left, and Bob Baron, CEO of Baron Services, in February announced the statewide weather alerting system, SAF-T-Net. (The Huntsville Times/Dave Dieter)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- In February, 10 months after a series of deadly tornadoes tore across the state, Gov. Robert Bentley announced a statewide weather alerting system - called Alabama SAF-T-Net - developed by Huntsville-based Baron Services and provided at no cost to Alabama residents.

Tens of thousands have since signed up for the service designed to be a personal weather siren.

"We are pleased that nearly 60,000 people have registered to receive the Alabama SAF-T-Net notifications," said Bob Baron, the president and CEO of Baron Services. "We continue to encourage each and every Alabamian to sign up for this no-cost service for an additional layer of protection in your weather awareness arsenal."

From Feb. 22 until late last week, the number of registrants had reached more than 57,000, with people continuing to sign up daily, said Baron Services spokeswoman Cindy Wester.

"We have delivered in the neighborhood of 500,000 notifications via text, email and voice call," she said. And, during the severe weather outbreak on March 2, "the system was processing nearly 2,000 registrants an hour at certain times during the day."

"We do send a Baron unique advisory when storms are detected within a 15-mile radius of your designated locations," Wester said. "We will send you a unique Baron advisory if a strong storm is approaching your designated locations, and we will send an alert when the (National) Weather Service issues a warning, but only if your designated location is within their area of concern which is called storm-based, or 'polygon,' warning area.

"This means you will only receive notification when either Baron or the Weather Service expects you to be directly affected," Wester said. "Many times, sirens and weather radios sound for an entire county when only a small portion may actually be affected."

Baron Services is redesigning the signup/registration page of the Alabama SAF-T-Net site,

Wester said, to make it more user-friendly and easier to complete, especially for those who are signing up on mobile devices such as iPads or smart phones.

"We are continuing to promote SAF-T-Net through many avenues," Wester said.

The company is sponsoring the tents for lost children at the Panoply Arts Festival this weekend and staff will be available to help people to sign up there. The company is also working with the Boy Scouts, Huntsville Utilities, Madison Mayor Paul Finley, Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and Madison County Commission Chairman Mike Gillespie to promote SAF-T-Net registrations state-wide.

Baron has said the decision to provide the free service was prompted by the work of the Tornado Recovery Action Council, commissioned by Bentley to come up with recommendations to better prepare and respond to future natural disasters.

Among the council's suggestions: Implement a statewide, integrated severe-weather alert system that provides more precise alerts than countywide warnings, allows individuals to enroll phone numbers and takes advantage of smartphone technologies.